Acute Effect of Three Neuroactive Drugs Measured by Magnetoencephalography (MEG), Electroencephalography (EEG) and the Synchronous Neural Interaction Test

This placebo-controlled crossover study is intended to measure the effect of three, common neuroactive medications on brain activity measured by magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG). This study will conduct MEG and EEG scans as well as simple cognition testing on 15 healthy volunteers over 4 study days. Subjects will receive placebo on one of the study days, and either 100 mg modafinil p.o., 20 mg methylphenidate p.o., or 1 mg lorazepam p.o. on remaining study days. Medication administration will be randomized according to study day so that each subject will receive the medications in random order. Brain activity will be measured by MEG and EEG in each subject a total of 4 times each study day: prior to medication administration and 2, 4, and 6 hours after medication administration. Cognition testing will be performed at pre-medication baseline and immediately after each post-medication scan time. This study will test the hypothesis that changes in brain functional activity can be accurately measured in healthy volunteer subjects after single, acute doses of modafinil, methylphenidate and lorazepam.